Extracts from Diary of US Ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith July 1995 September 1995 Source National Defense University July 20 Back frem Washingten and Uerment It has been a disastreus and demeaning twe weeks in which the Besnian Serbs teek ever the Srebrenica Safe area and have attached the Eepa safe area which appears te have fallen er te be en the verge of falling The Besnian Serbs have been true te ferm in Srebreniea and the papers are full er eempletel reminiscent at 1992 civilians massacred aleng the readside yeuhg girle taken eff ei bases raped killed and their naked bedies discarded like human rubbish and beya reunded up fer camps Of Srebreniea e 40 00 eeme 10 0 are still missing In Hashingteh I tried tu been peeple Up and perhaps te ehame them inte actien I saw the Seeretary te eemplain ahent the Mileseyic epticn neting his eentinued suppert u the Besnian Serb military This includes running an integrated air defenee system that shut dewn an American plane paying salariES ef Beenian Serb efficers the vJ maintaining Besnian Serb military vehicles in Serbia and the reunding up at eeHSCripts fer the SSA hlse given the clese censultatien between Hileseyic and Hladic Mladic was Present during Hileseyic's marathen meeting with Bildt it is incenee1yahle that Mileseyic did net knew and at least tacitly bless the Srebreniea-Eepa eperatiens 1 else urged cur Security Council legal prepesal te aid the Besnians by preyiding meney se they can buy wea ens The Secretary was clearly briefed an my views but istened carefully He indicated that it may eeme te a ceyert pregrah and that i had a paint en Mileseyie I did net heweyer get the impressien that he was geing te ehange eur Hileseyic diplematie tract just new And indeed Fraeure seems te be geihg aieng with a new Hildt mechanism en reimpesitien ef sanctiuns I alee strengly urged Denalih and Heibreehe net te write eff Zepa a public statement that we are drawing the line at earadee cauld have disastreue fer the i ee peeple at Eepa tter Erebreniea they may find it preferable te Eight te the death and we sheuldn't wersen their situatien July 21 Saw hhashi to deliver a tough demarche that all UH ersonnei should be withdrawn from places where they night he ostaqes He spoke of the un's dual role and of the continued importance of monitoring and reporting pointed out this on created potential hostages and would he a barrier to effective action He still doesn t get it The demarche incidentally includes words of warnind that the Bosnian Serb leadership will he held personally responsible for the fate of the hostages This is language I like to hear July 22 I dictated a hasty cable describing last night's dinner with the headline Tudjman decides for direct military intervention to save Eihac sars Susak in it I said we had two credible options for handling the situation These were 4 Do nothing The fall of Eihac would create 150 0 0 new refugees and strike a further blow at the credibility of the United Nations effort If the international community won't save Bihao would it not he better to have the Croatians save it than the serbe take it -- Promise the Croatians that it they exercise restraint the v 5 will oppose any iurther sanctions relief on Serbia until it recs nises Croatia Last Hcyenher ll we were able to head off a elmilar Croatian decision by assuring Tudjman that we would use all leyeraqe on Serbia including the maintenance of sanctions to_hr1nq about a peaceful resolution of the Hrajina situation With our Milosevic track we have nothing to offer Croatia in terms ct pressure for the peaceful reccyery of its territory Hence the Creatian decision to recover the Hrajina militaril Since the fall of Bihac would make that action more difficultr the current Serb attacks are accelerating the Croatian timetable Ln July 24 War appears imminent The Croatians plan to mcye tomorrow at 4 0e a m en Bcsanska Graheyc The Serbs have artillery in sector South and plan to retaliate by shelling Croatian coastal cities The Croatian plan would then he to take a sharp left at Grahevo and noye onto Knin They would punch a corridor through Slunj to Bihac 1n the north they plan to on Hostionica They would also tats Fetrinja and the territory around yirginmost Topusko and Glina so as to put Zagreb out of artillery range Ceryenko has told me much of their war plans and so has Susak Unlike Hevemher 13 1994 we will not tell the Creatians net te de it Helbreeke heught my arguments and says he advanced them with the White Hnuse They met en the issue Saturday and today Tarneff wants to send a demarehe warning the Creatians ef the dangers as if they hadn t theught ef them themselves In a war is imminent cablsl 1 said I had warned the Creatians ef the dangers en es te head eff sueh silliness July 25 I received a demarche en Bihae It is actually rather need It expresses understanding ef the Crestian pesitien with the Serbs attaching the Bihae enslave frem Croatian territory and the Sarajeve requesting your assistance we eannet dispute veer right to intervene military te repel the Serbs but gees en te warn the Creatians against human rights abuses ef the Serb pepulatien mistreatment ef PDHs and es en It dees sell fer limiting the Bihae operatien and net making it the general attach an the UNPAS but this is ef ceurse net new it will detelep I am instructed te deliver the demarche tn the highest available Get effieial Hewever Tudjman Grenie Busek end Sarinie are net of teen 1 give it te Eusul at lunch Actually he is the best interleeuter as he understands its significance As leng es Creatia behaves well in the senduet of its eperatiens we will net suppert any punitive actien New Creatia has no reasen net to meve directly threugh Hrajina te save Bihae The demarshe includes an extraordinary line we appreciate the class eensultatien with veur gevernnent in the past week as well as your willingness te expend bleed and treasure te help defend the Besnians Zuzul said he weuld pass the telhing peints en te Tudjman and asked if they eeuld be made public urged net Here hreadly Eueul described the situatien in Bihae as a race against time He estimated it weuld take 10 days fer the eperatien in Besnia te reach Bihec Hewever Hinec might net be able te last so Lenq IE se Creatia weuld have te go directly He said things weuld be clearer by the weekend Zueul emphasised that Bihec was Critical tn Creatia new mere impertant than even Knin I spcke te Heisel and described cur demarche He liked it very much and trashed what he wuuld recemmend fer the erman gevernment Tune heard en extraerdinary story frem a men free Srebrenica when she had interviewed in Turle He had bEEn captured by the Serbs in the weeds mistreated intransit taken tn a stadium apparently Bretunacj where Mladic had taunted same priscners yeur hlija can t help ycu Huslims sheuld never have left Tugeslavia j and then he was transperted en a packed truck te chjevic Felje where the qreup was machine gunned This refugee escaped when the bullet grazed his tEmple creating much hLUcd but dcing little damage He and anether survivor hid in a ditch as the Eerbs the bedies He estimated 150 were killed in his qreup but the implication is that all military aged males who were captured with the fall of Srebrenica had been executed I sent a HGDIS describing the stery and strongly urging reconsideration cf cur decisicn te write eff Eepe Hewever later I learned that Eepa had already fallen July 2 I had a lenq talk with assessed my view as a reluctant belief that Creatian entry into the ear is better than the centinuatien ef the status que I insisted my view is that if the UH won't save Eihac then it is better fer Creatia tn save it and the 160 030 peeple she live there than te have them ethnically cleansed by the Serbs In in the hierarchy cf evils the fall cf Bihac is a greater ene than a wider war It seems my view has prevailed and largely because I have pushed hard and written persuasively The Creatians are mueh mere likely te act because we have net given them a red light I have emphasized the parts ef eur message that reflect understanding of the Creatian nesItien while emphasising ever and ever the impertance uf pretectinq human rights and UN peacekeepers I nepe this is the right ceurse u uetien I feel respensibility fer the censequences speke to Chris Heh arter the dinner she said the Deputies Cemmitteer which met en my cable want te de ene mere demarche asking the Greats te wait fer HATE I asked sarcastieally ii HATD planned te do anything The DC is a pathetic green that thinks it eentrels peliey but because its are so weak do a meme send a demarehe it reaIly centrels netning I speak to Chris Hill secure and he says the demarche weuld just be a repeat ef what we received earlier this week In any event ne demarehe ever arrived pm July 29 Lu 1 received a demarche instructien to see Tudjman er the highest available GD efficial te press eur paint that Ureatia sheuld withheld en military aetien This represented a slight change from net earlier pesitien that any creatian aetien sheuld he limited This was the preduet of Friday s Deputies Cemmittee meeting he Chris Hill explained te me in the absence at a peliey the DC wants te have a meeting have a repert er send a Cable Since they were already meeting en a repert the enly eeurse ef ectien is te a cable Heme ef the peints were a bit silly The Creatians have ehvieusly already assessed the risks ef FRY interventien and their prespects fer success in the meuntaineus area ef Krajina Dn the ether hand the message useruliy eaiis fer mere time to see if an thing can he negetiated and deesn t change eur basic pesitien that these are Zagreb s decisions te make July in Shattuck came to teen He is making the trip selelv te investigate the Srehrenica disappeared and it is directly respense te my table interview in Tuela Tene gave him the stery in detail and hem te eentaet the witness His aide Jesiah Resenhlatt referred at lunch te the August 1 date even theugh seme ef the Embassy staff there den't knew it ner dees Tene it is eutrageeus that a secret can be se Widely disseminated and that even prefessienals den t keep it pm August 1 At the press conference Shattuek outlines his findings He has talked to two ourvivors of the killings an well as other victims of Serb atrocities He says he heard first hand reports of mass executions robberies rapes and harrassment Unfortunately he misses the real point of what he heard That there mag have been the systematic killing of between eight and twelve ousand Srehreniee disappeared I jump in to make this point and in a later brief to the NET LATimes and Post ask the question where are the missing Shattuok could have gotten more attention although eventually he makes can August 3 Her will begin at 4 19 tomorrow I new Tudinan at 5 45 P H with our tinai demarrhe i desorioed what Bahia had agreed tor and pointed out that Croatia had achieved everything it sought 1 emphasited that abio had agreed to negotiate for a political settlement within Croatia' and that he understood he could not get as much as the 2 4 Plan I had received denarohe instructions this morning ostensibly in support of my agreement with Habie yesterday In fact the instructions were incredibly weak and seemed to indicate we were only going through the motions For example they oonoeded a key Croatian point When they said we understand that Hnln's intentions must be measured by actions not words The punch line was on underwhelming we urge you to Evaluate the sort reaction oarefully and to explore fully the possible opening for a diplomatic resolution of the oonfliet I called Frasure to say that this was guaranteed to undermine what we had achieved in Belgrade He was busy getting ready for a Hiidt meeting when he got baok to me he said the Deputies Committee would take up the war in Croatia at This is guaranteed to produce nothing and my meeting was at 5 45 1 called Tarnotf now the noting Secretary 1 said a war in Croatia would be a terrible human tragedy involving thousands of dead and more than refugees it would produce an ethnically pure Croatia and undermine the hope for multi ethnieity in the Balkans The people in Krajina should not be punished to this extent for their bad leaders August 5 The Croatians have made great advances taking Hnin this morning I saw Granlo at a ou who outlined his strategic The Deputies Committee has decided I should not help They want to reduce the perception of a U S green light This is alnest obscene They grant a green light and then don t wish me she has unique credibility with beth sides to try and stop the killing Meanwhile tens of thousands of people are leaving their homes I talk te Frasure Holhro he and Tarneff te try to get this reversed Helhrooke is sympathetic but in the end I get a NIACT instructing me net to get involved Ln August The day began with a call from Frasure which was something of an analogy for my treatment over the past few days He explained that he and had wanted a war because it represented a fundamental reshuftle ef the deck They had net wanted me insulted in the ceasefire because it might exacerbate the impression of a u s green light with the allies I am glad all of this is on his conscienee August 15 The Helhraehe delegatien and I salled en to present the plan at a neen meeting by inneh Tudjman was by Sarinje Granit Susah Eusul and Foreign Pelioy Adviser Hatie Tudjman listened carefully as Holbroeke Went threugh his points He then turned in the most astounding performance I have heard from him While agreeing with the American plan he then eompletel trashed the Muslims the Federatione and the idea of a continuing Bosnian state He trotted out his familiar tirade that Croatia represents the edge of western civilization that the Besnian Muslims are Islamieists at heart seeking a Muslim state from the Adriatic threuqh sandjak tn Keseue Albania and Macedonia state even more powerful than Serbia and that Croatia was doing the West a favor with its oiuiliainq missien with regard to the Busnian Muslims Besnia-Herzegevine he said might continue as an interestienally recognized state fer the time being Later he said in English Hesnia Herzeguv1na has na future Tudjman went an to talk shunt trading Tuzia fer Benja Luke in short his menu map frem the May in dinner in London I feund particularly gelling Tudjman's blithe aesumptien that we share his prejudices and prescriptiens I passed Helbreeke a nete peintinq out these are all Tudjman's 01d prejudicesf fully re- emerged after 13 months ef relative aheyance fud man needs to be responded te very It was the justificatien fer the Creat Huslim war I always used to tell him that Americans were meet sympathetic tn the Huslims precisely because we saw them as the meet western ef Besnia s three peeples Hulbreeke replied agree -- but net new HGT HUT Defend what we already said this is far tee serieusl if he en it to deal with new I sent Fraeure a note saying cengratulatiens Here is yeur fundamental reshuffle ef the deck Te which he replied with characteristic humer I'm quite sure Tudeen just came te these eenelusiens in the last eeuple of weeks ef his long and interesting iifel #5 6a 5 My UL 4'31 I f Lij I it d ff g 12-3 ail k2 Jig- 611 1 Li-Hg T Lu bgia H- 193 gt 1 - hire L4 11-2 flu $22k 73 4 14 62 5 1mm 74 6 AL Emj- basz L 3 shy-1F 7 11- LIL-2 4 1 31 War Lad 3 ElM mrS an Lo Hen- 3 7 3 7 5-1 af x I w M w Me Mr U19 Emu J TIL-F st f J September 1 Holhrooke arrives at Brl We meet on the plane He says his most important message is to tell the Croatians not to attack Banja Luke and asks my opinion I point out the advantages of regaining Muslim-interest territory in Prijedor and he says that Washington has finally seen the polioy error it had made in counselling restraint on such oases a policy Holhrooke supported but I don t say this oh Banja Luke I point out the advantage of taking the high ground Manjaoa above the city This would not Banja Luka most important Serb city in a peeition analagous to Sarajeyo Deals would he possihle to giye both cities some hinterland Holbrooke angrily hotness me of trying to micromanage the military operations which I deny since I am just olfering my assessment Later when Clark mentions Hanjaoa Holhrooke sogtpedals pointing to the history of it I think he sees my point In the car we discuss Ea5tern Slovenia Holhrooke feels that Hiloseyio's proposal rePresents a basis for negotiation It is obvious Holbrooke knows little about the issue and has not read my cable explaining how far we have gotten He wants to know whether the Croatians can be persuaded to accept some kind of referendum which might even Specify that the question is on great autonomy in Uroatia I say no referendum will work We see Tudjman at ezen Holbrooke gives him an account of the Sarajevo negotiations and the screwup on heavy weapons language He than warns on Banja Luke and Tudjnan says he agrees Holhrooke informs Tudjman that Mladio is in the hospital and there is a look of pure delight on Tudjman s face